Post by fenris on Apr 6, 2008 14:02:40 GMT
Episode #4.1: Partners in Crime
A solid return for the Doc, although Sarah Lancashire's villainess and her baby alien hordes seemed better suited to The Sarah-Jane Adventures as opposed to Doctor Who proper.
Catherine Tate's Donna was just as good as I'd hoped she'd be, but a quick glance at other sci-fi forums reveals that she hasn't convinced all the naysayers yet. I especially liked both her and the Doctor not only investigating Adipose simultaneously, but using identical methods (effectively - if unsubtly - indicating just how well suited they are). However, the two of them constantly just missing each other was a little too cute, and went on for too long. That said, the payoff was wonderfully handed - their initial glimpse at each other through the windows and subsequent silent conversation was a ready-made classic New Who moment. The revelation that Donna has already packed for her journeys on the Tardis was priceless, but also very sensible and practical once you think about it. Whereas as Rose and Martha ended up travelling with the Doctor while swept up in all the giddy excitement of interplanetary adventure, Donna has had time to sit down and think calmly about it, before deciding that yes, this is what she wants to do. She's doing to be a very different kind of companion - as witnessed by the scene in this episode where the Doctor in up to his elbows in alien technology and giving Donna's offers of help the brush off, until she firmly insists he tells her what he needs and it promptly turns out she has the very thing.
Other brief thoughts: the climatic Close Encounters-style spaceship both looked and sounded incredible - probably the best spacecraft ever seen in Who's long history. Spoiler font: And the cameo by Rose was a genuine surprise. Yes, we all knew she was coming back, but not (we thought) until much later in the series. She didn't look happy, and her vanishing was quite ominous.
A solid return for the Doc, although Sarah Lancashire's villainess and her baby alien hordes seemed better suited to The Sarah-Jane Adventures as opposed to Doctor Who proper.
Catherine Tate's Donna was just as good as I'd hoped she'd be, but a quick glance at other sci-fi forums reveals that she hasn't convinced all the naysayers yet. I especially liked both her and the Doctor not only investigating Adipose simultaneously, but using identical methods (effectively - if unsubtly - indicating just how well suited they are). However, the two of them constantly just missing each other was a little too cute, and went on for too long. That said, the payoff was wonderfully handed - their initial glimpse at each other through the windows and subsequent silent conversation was a ready-made classic New Who moment. The revelation that Donna has already packed for her journeys on the Tardis was priceless, but also very sensible and practical once you think about it. Whereas as Rose and Martha ended up travelling with the Doctor while swept up in all the giddy excitement of interplanetary adventure, Donna has had time to sit down and think calmly about it, before deciding that yes, this is what she wants to do. She's doing to be a very different kind of companion - as witnessed by the scene in this episode where the Doctor in up to his elbows in alien technology and giving Donna's offers of help the brush off, until she firmly insists he tells her what he needs and it promptly turns out she has the very thing.
Other brief thoughts: the climatic Close Encounters-style spaceship both looked and sounded incredible - probably the best spacecraft ever seen in Who's long history. Spoiler font: And the cameo by Rose was a genuine surprise. Yes, we all knew she was coming back, but not (we thought) until much later in the series. She didn't look happy, and her vanishing was quite ominous.
